Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to members on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)
Note: Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, this week's list includes songs from the past two weeks.
Radio Free Alice - "Rule 31"
Sometimes there’s simply nothing better than a beautiful post-punk song. Melbourne's Radio Free Alice cracked the code with "Rule 31." Do you like the sweeping, dark guitars of Dublin's Fontaines D.C.? Do you like the cosmic textures of Montreal's Cola? You will find catharsis in "Rule 31," which rhymes "unpack" with "Prozac." Noah Learmonth's vocals are evocative, and every instrument is imbued with passion; you get the sense that all of the band members are inhabiting their own realm together. —Danielle
MAVI - "Typewriter" (Feat. Kenny Mason)
Lil Chick's beat-without-a-beat turns weeping old-world sounds into a transcendent canvas for these bars. Props go to MAVI for the ability to make rapid-fire syllables casually tumble out like sighs: "Yeah, each diamond my pick like I'm minin' obsidian/ Glitter refract in a path non-Euclidean/ .300 Blackout like Gideon/ Brass out the semi, Marimba when kissin' the street." Mason packs whole short stories into bars like "Caught in the grip of a queen, I had to conquer the castle before I could leave/ My cousin was cookin' for fiends, they booked him before I could read." And the way the two rappers play off each other's version of forgot/remembered refrain? It might inspire you to sit down at a typewriter yourself. —Chris
Ratboys - "What’s Right?"
"What's Right?" is a multi-segmented stunner from a rock band that seemingly can do no wrong. I was already appreciating Ratboys' ability to shift from delicate, agile pop-rock to shit-kicking oomph to whispery drama even before I read Julia Steiner's statement about referencing "the tight, yet expansive sonics of the War On Drugs and the desert landscapes of Thelma And Louise," but damn if those insights didn't deepen my appreciation for what the band accomplished here. Few indie bands are doing it better right now. —Chris
Makthaverskan - "Pity Party"
"Where there was life now there is a battle/ Your war/ My mind," Maja Milner sings on "Pity Party," a supercharged jangle-pop gem about not realizing your current relationship is bad news until it's far too late. There's an underlying anxiety to the dreamy, sparkling production of the lead single to Makthaverskan's upcoming album Glass And Bones; Milner's narrator is so entranced in this toxicity that they've entirely lost sight of their own identity. It's more angry than sad, but either way, it's a relief to hear good old Makthaverskan back at it again. —Abby
TTSSFU - "Upstairs"
Look, it doesn't have to be that deep or complicated. Start out with a plummy, minimal, propulsive New Order-type bassline and a rickety drum-machine beat. Slowly drizzle on a bunch of dreamy, pillowy keyboards and guitars until the song sounds like it's about to fall apart, then strip it all away at the moment of peak drama. Whisper-sing about old and faded memories, about being lonely and missing someone. That's all you need to do. You just made a banger. Congratulations. —Tom
